HobbitFoot

Spock is going to have to give back that valuable whale vomit.

Not from a moral but a practical matter:

• Iraq had engaged in two wars of conquest against its neighbors in the last few decades. So you had more regional support for the invasion than for current regional support for the invasion of Venezuela. Turkey did refuse to use its country as a staging ground to invade Iraq, but several Persian Gulf states hosted coalition troops.

• The USA attempted to make its case diplomatically before invading. Sure, the case for the invasion of Iraq was built on lies, but at least a case was being made diplomatically. Also, the USA was citing UN resolutions as a justification for war even if it was incorrectly doing so; that hasn't happened in the taking of Maduro.

• There was a coalition of the willing that was invading Iraq, not a solitary country. The USA wasn't going alone and was apply to rely on multiple countries approving this action even if it didn't have UN approval.

• Bush wasn't threatening to invade several allies before invading Iraq. While there was dubious legality to the invasion of Afghanistan as it was a non-state actor which attacked the USA, the USA was at least and to cite self defense in is invasion.

• The world's opinion of the USA was a lot higher at the time.

I don't know about the average Venezuelan, but I've seen the reactions from the Colombian and Brazilian presidents; they considered the election of Maduro to be illegitimate but also heavily criticize the kidnapping of Maduro.

Eh, it kind of reads as a question of self identity. The brunette identifies with her hobbies first while the blonde has really only thought of self identification via work.

That said, a lot of people don't have deep hobbies. Having the economic means where someone can identify beyond their paid and unpaid jobs is a luxury.

I wouldn't be happy about it.

Edit: I've been introduced to the concept early in my life that my life can end unnaturally. I've also experienced enough to know that there are cases where extended life isn't worth it and choosing to die is the preferable option.

Right now, I'm not there. I've also had to deal with something potentially fatal and I've been mostly emotionally able to handle it because there was a path forward to a healthy life.

If that was to change, I would likely spend my savings enjoying my life before either looking myself or letting whatever sickness take my life without medical intervention.

I expect the hardest part of that decision will be to tell my family because they don't have the same viewpoint.

Unless the USA invades, I imagine the process won't be fully controlled by the USA.

Currently, the Venezuelan Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, is in Russia. She would likely be acting as President Anna isn't at risk of being kidnapped by the USA. The question right now is whether the Venezuelan government can maintain its chain of command as the USA attacks it.

The USA is likely hoping for a coup where the current government falls. If that happens, the successor will likely be a choice of the Venezuelan military and internal security ministries.

It was centrally located for the time, but it was still established with the idea it would have coastal access.

And it was a decent location that followed the European model of having the capital not on the coast but inland enough to defend. Caracas matches that location as well.

Moving the capital is a major logistical hurdle in peace or war.

In war, it is usually a bad sign if a government has to abandon the capital. The only cases I can think of where a government had to abandon the capital but ended up winning the war was the United States in the War of 1812 and Mexico during the French installation of a Mexican king, both cases where the war ended in part because the war became too costly to the occupier and the occupied could trade massive amounts of land, someone Venezuela can't really do.

In peace, there is a massive amount of infrastructure that needs to be built to support the administration of a government. Germany chose to keep several government agencies in Bonn during unification given the large number of government buildings available. South Korea's attempt to move the capital to Sejong has been slow and has only moved some ministries. Indonesia and Egypt are having issues funding their relocation attempts. Venezuela, in contrast, is fucking broke.

My bet is that there isn't going to be an occupation or even a major invasion. The troops aren't there for that; people forget there was a massive mobilization for Iraq, which would be equivalent to Venezuela.

What will likely happen is that the battle plan is to continue down the chain of command until a coup is able to take place. A caretaker government gets put into place, the current government loses massively, then the USA sends back Maduro to stand trial. Meanwhile, the USA releases all sanctions and creates a bailout package dependent on the USA gaining control of Venezuelan oil.

Now that's how you do a three hour special operation.

I don't care enough to have one.